


A Bond Accepted

by wingsofanillyrian



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 18:47:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14118621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingsofanillyrian/pseuds/wingsofanillyrian
Summary: Nesta has been reluctant to accept the mating bond between herself and Cassian. But she's realized that she can't live without him.





	A Bond Accepted

**Author's Note:**

> I kinda wanna continue this... Let me know if you're interested in it!

She was ready.

Nesta’s hands shook as she set two places the oak table. She glanced over her shoulder at the stove, monitoring the meal. The vegetables she meticulously cut and prepared were boiling in a pot, and the seasoned chicken baking in the oven. All day she had worked to prepare this meal, and she wanted it to be perfect for what she had planned.

She had asked him to come help her assemble a bookcase after he was finished training for the day, but in reality she had something very different planned. The soft knock on the door startled her, and she smoothed the front of her emerald day dress. She placed her hand on the knob, taking a steading breath before opening it.

Cassian stood in the foyer, dark hair unbound and still damp from his after-workout shower. Dressed in a half- buttoned maroon tunic that showed off his sculpted chest and the tattoos that covered it, Nesta found it hard to look away. Even after courting for three years, she could never get enough of her warrior.

Not mine yet, she chided herself, finally tearing her gaze from his chest.

“Hello, sweetheart,” he said, smiling sweetly and stepping into her apartment. He placed a kiss to her cheek and inhaled deeply, smelling the food she had been cooking. “We’re putting together a bookcase, huh?” Amusement shone in his eyes, and he put his hands on Nesta’s hips.

“I made us dinner,” she murmured, hugging his torso and resting her cheek above his heart. It beat loud and strong in her ear, the sound both comforting and nerve wracking.

She did this often; made herself dinner before Cassian would come over, and he would eat with her at the table. He always served himself, however, and never pushed her to serve him. Because he knew that was a decision that Nesta needed to make on her own, and it wouldn’t help to have him breathing down her neck about it. Serving him meant she accepted him for who he was, and promised him forever. It wasn’t a choice she was willing to make without being absolutely certain.

But she was ready, she decided. She wanted him- forever.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” he murmured, kissing her hair. “Smells lovely.” He stepped out of her embrace and towards the table to pick up his plate. Nesta stopped him with a hand on his wrist, and he raised a brow in silent question. Her hands were still shaking, and her heart felt as if it would beat out of her chest. Oh Gods, she was really about to do this. She was about to take the biggest leap of her life, and she could only pray that Cassian would catch her.

“I’ll do it. You sit.” To her surprise, her voice was steady and warm. His wings flared in shock, and he blinked. He turned to her, his large hands engulfing her slender ones in their warm embrace.

“You know what it means when a mate serves them food that they’ve prepared, right?” She could practically feel the anticipation pulsing through his veins. He’d wanted this since the moment they discovered the bond; she knew that. But she had always pushed back on it, never allowed herself to accept or acknowledge it.

Until now.

Nesta nodded, taking the plate from the table. “I know what it means.” He stared at her as he sat, half in a daze. She tried to smile at him, but it came off as more of a grimace. Never in her life had she been so nervous as she spooned the carrots and green beans onto his plate, setting it aside to pull the chicken from the oven. She took several deep breaths to steady herself before she trusted herself to pick up the knife and carve the chicken, heaping a generous pile of the steaming meat onto his plate.

She set the meal before him and cursed her escalating nerves as she shakily poured him a glass of water. The weight of his gaze bore into her, and she knew he was watching for any signs of regret or denial. She sat opposite him, the large oak table creating an impassable barrier between them. Cassian stared at the food, wings shifting nervously.

He looked up to her, churning hazel meeting steely blue. Uncertainty was etched in the strong lines of his face and he reached his hand across the table to grasp hers.

“You’re absolutely certain?”

“I am.”

“You truly understand what happens after I eat this?”

“I do. We’ll be-“ Nesta furiously blinked back her tears, her throat tight. “We’ll be mates.”

“And you want that with me?” He asked, attention still locked on her. “You want to be my mate?”

She was presenting him what he wanted above all else on a silver platter, yet his only thoughts were of her well-being. What she wanted. And she knew that if she suddenly decided to back down, he would respect her wishes and forget this every happened. Something about that tugged at her heartstrings; a heart which she hadn’t known she had possessed before meeting Cassian.

Nesta surveyed the male sitting before her. She thought of the proud set of his shoulders, the air of teasing arrogance that he often carried himself with. She remembered that day on the killing fields, when Hybern had readied to slay him and she protected him. His lips had been soft and warm, holding every hope and dream he’d had for a future with her. He’d promised her time in the next life.

She would promise him time in this one.

“I do. I want to be your mate, Cassian, from now until the end of times.” She got up from her seat and his hazel eyes tracked each step she took towards him. She picked up his plate and sat on the edge of the table to face him. She speared the chicken with a fork, holding it up to his mouth.

“Eat.”

Tears swam in his eyes as he rested his calloused hands on Nesta’s hips, giving her one last chance to back out. But she wouldn’t. With every fiber of her being, she wanted this. She lowered her pillowly lips to his brow as confirmation of her choice and proof of her love.

Cassian ate the chicken she offered him, and Nesta gasped. Immediately, she felt the pull in her blood, responding to the male before her. He must have felt it too, because his fingers tightened at her hips and he inhaled sharply.

“Nesta,” he whispered, pulling her onto his lap. “Do you-“

“I feel it,” she whispered back, a choked cry escaping Cassian’s lisp. Saltwater traced paths down Cassian cheeks, and she brushed the tears away with the pad of her thumb. Her hand lingered on his jaw, his stubble scratching her palm.

“Mates,” he said breathlessly, capturing her face between his hands. “We’re bonded. Bonded mates.” Just because she could, she tried tugging at that thread she felt tethering their souls. She was rewarded with an astonished gasp, one of his hands flying to his chest. Feyre was right, she thought, it was fun to see their reaction to that. She giggled and twined her arms around his neck.

“Are you still hungry?” she asked, then bit her lip. She could feel the beginnings of the desire building beneath her skin, and knew he could feel it too. But he pressed a single, soft kiss to her lips before nodding.

“Feed me again,” he murmured, beseeching her with eyes of star-flecked honey. So she did. She fed him every scrap on the plate, watching him as he savored each morsel that she had prepared.

When he was finished, she set the plate behind her once more and could no longer ignore the burning passion she felt sizzling between them. She slipped her hands under his shirt, resting her palms above his racing heart. She marveled at the strength in the rippling muscles of his chest, feeling his heart pound harder as she let her hands trail over his tattoos. She leaned in to whisper in his ear.

“Let the frenzy begin.”


End file.
